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The Cycle (2009)
The Cycle, also known as The Devil's Ground, is a 2009 Canadian/Czech horror film. The film begins with a young woman named Amy (Leah Gibson) fleeing a masked, black-clad man wielding a machete (Twan Holliday). Meanwhile a female driver named Carrie (Daryl Hannah) is pressured to stay the night at a local motel by a man named Jimmy (also Holliday), but refuses. She drives on and nearly hits Amy, who persuades Carrie to take her to the next town. While in the car, Amy reluctantly tells Carrie her story. Amy tells Carrie that she and four fellow Boston University students came to the area to look for a Native American burial ground inBradford, Pennsylvania. The area was due to become a mine and their professor had promised them a pass grade if they found evidence of the burial ground. On the way to the town they stop to get gas and all but Amy end up mocking the gas station's owner Billy (Daniel Probert) for his hillbilly appearance, speech and lack of hands. This prompts him to warn Amy not to go up to the burial ground, which he calls the "Devil's Playground". The group ignores Billy's warnings and continue to the site of the burial ground. Their dig is met with almost immediate setbacks when their Winnebago is shaken during the night and their tools are stolen. Despite this, they still manage to not only find evidence of the ancient burial ground but also other evidence that suggests that a serial killer has recently been using the area to bury his victims. The group plans to call the police, but are killed off one by one by the masked man from the opening. Only Amy manages to survive and she runs to the gas station run by Billy. She pleads with him for help, only for him to call the killer, who turns out to be his mentally-challenged brother Tobey. Amy then learns that both Billy's and Tobey's birth defects were the result of chemicals released by a mining accident back in 1967 and that the two brothers kill because of their bitterness towards the world. She is nearly raped and killed, which is when she flees and encounters Carrie. Carrie explains that she is driving the same route that her partner took before disappearing. They stop at a gas station for fuel and for Carrie to call the police, but they do not believe her story, telling her that Amy Singer died five years ago. At this point, Jimmy re-appears and explains that Amy is a ghost and that each year she appears on the same stretch of road on which she died. Jimmy also explains that the gas station they are now at is the same one (albeit rebuilt) that was previously owned by Billy, who has since died. Tobey now arrives and Jimmy intervenes to save Carrie, but is shot and killed by the young gas station attendant, who turns out to be Billy's son. The film ends with Tobey swinging his machete down on Carrie.